As opposed to the Judgement card in many other decks that I've seen, Robin's "Judgement" is like a breath of fresh air...full of positive and uplifting vibes. Rather than showing lost souls drowning in a sea of grief with no hope in sight, the female depicted in Robin's card rises out of the flames with (as) a Phoenix. Wow ~ that is a very powerful image for me! She's unscathed by the fire licking around her legs, instead appearing cool and confident (but not smug,) as if just experiencing a triumphant win.

The cauldron itself, which the woman rises out of, speaks to me as a place where all things are possible...a brew that mixes several, possibly diverse and not always pleasant, components into one bright, new entity. And "rebirth" is what Robin says, in her book, that this card is indeed about.

I loved how Robin's own beliefs come through in the card, especially in her words,"...there is no failing, just lessons learned." It's as if this ageless woman has travelled many bumpy paths but has come out of it with renewed vigor and better understanding of how to further proceed.

Robin has taken a card, "Judgement," that many readers/querants might fear when the dire images of other decks show up in a reading, and has turned it around to be a card full of hope and promise. As Robin wrote, "In our 'Judgement,' everyone winds, because ours is rebirth, not punishment..."

I was full size, adult size, the child left behind. Walking beyond the stone wall, following a path which led to an archway, much like The Crystal Garden Healing, only the top of the arch was carved into what appeared, to my eyes, to be a relief of the most brilliant autumn oak leaves. I came upon a keeper of this gate. He stood and I could see beyond the links of the web-like metal, a bridge spanned across a chasm. Before I could pass through to the bridge, however, I had to answer two questions:

"Where do you go when you get to the end of your dream?" he asked.

I don't know why this occurred to me, but I said, "You become the light."

While he gave me no indication if I was right or wrong, he address the second question. "How would you finish this thought: And in the end...?"

I shrugged, "The love you take, is equal to the love you make."

Nodding, the keeper took his key and opened the padlock, stepped aside for me to pass. Going through I thought, was that it? I walked across the planks of a wooden bridge, and entered a forest, walking down a path. It felt very much akin to the road I'd been on from the start, even before I came to that first cliff, way back when. At the end of the trail, I found stone steps, similar to those I'd gone down when I met Temptation. For a moment I hesitated, and descended, opening a door...

Before I had the chance to step inside, a woman greeted me. She beckoned me to turn around, which I did. She placed a black silk scarf around my head, covering my eyes. "I will guide you the rest of the way," and she took my hand as we passed through the door. It felt damp, cool, and very quiet. Her touch gave me strength as we walked. I could hear only our footsteps for a brief time. At the point where I felt a warmth against my face, I thought I heard drums, beating in cadence to our movement, and suddenly the hall was filled with music (or was that just inside my head?). As the music filled my head, we ascended a small stairway. The next step, I felt no purchase, at first, and I step into a what felt like a huge tub. My clothes fell away and I heard my guide say, "all you need is love." Intense heat (without pain though) creep up my body, and I felt we were rising. There was a change in atmosphere, a sense of rising up into the outside. Something inside me was telling me I had made it. I lifted my arms and my hands went automatically into the hand sign for 'I love you,' all on their own. I could feel that I had bracelets around my wrists and I was becoming enthralled. I felt wings spreading up behind me, and as the blind fold slipped from around my head, I was... the light! I could see that behind me the most beautiful phoenix, attached to me through a soul connection, was rising from the ashes, as I was, from the seeker I had been into a new seeker; one with the experience and knowledge of a journey taken that had inexorably changed the very fabric of my being. While I felt triumphant, it knew definitely this was only the first of many moments of ascension.

~ ~ ~

A Gathering of lost fragments, allows you to connect to your higher self.

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